Q1: Is it always better to work with a local consultant?
A: We’ve always thought so, all things being equal. However, over time, things have become less and less equal.
Q4: What other ways do you have of both minimizing our cost and our risk?
A: As we explain in The Teleconvergence Approach to System Selection, the first step in the Teleconvergence process is to ignore market alternatives while we obtain an understanding of your objectives, needs, and operating and financial parameters. After that, we create a Request For Proposal (RFP), and send it to prospective vendors, evaluate their responses, etc. In short, we do the entire process.
As we discuss in The Teleconvergence System Selection Process in Detail, there are inevitable rounds of clarification that take place and we still conduct those to ensure that the results of all bids become as comparable as possible.
Once the results are ready for comparative discussion, we send them to you and work with you to arrive at a decision, again, as explained in detail in the articles mentioned above.
By sharing the work, the cost is reduced and you still achieve your objectives in a timely manner.
With non-local clients, however, we take a more balanced and shared approach. We still spend time identifying and incorporating your requirements into an RFP. However, you (perhaps along with us) determine to which local vendors to submit it. You field their calls, arrange for premises visits, if appropriate, and your staff discusses such items as space requirements for equipment, etc. When the vendors respond electronically -- as you insist -- they simply copy us on everything they send you. We have a Letter of Authorization you sign that allows us to negotiate with them on your behalf, and we copy you on all communications.
Many systems and services are now available over the Internet as hosted services or SaaS (Software as a Service). Frequently, the system isn’t physical or nearby, and neither is support. The very concept of local in many instances has simply evaporated.
Technology enables us to deal and minimize time differences. We compensate for distance issues through audio, video, and web conferencing. In short physical proximity remains desirable, but it’s no longer necessary.
Our consulting time is increasingly spent in our own office doing research, engaged in live or telephone conversations, or writing RFPs (Requests for proposals) or in creating worksheets and presentations for our clients. Most of the time, it honestly makes no difference if we’re in the next office, the next state, or the next country.
We’ve been for consulting for more than 25 years. We know more industries, more systems, and more alternatives than most. Experience is frequently more valuable than proximity.
The principal at Teleconvergence has lived in medium-sized towns and some of the biggest cities in the country. He’s multicultural, bilingual, and speaks technology (including telephony, data, and IP), marketing, and finance. Sometimes, that’s hard to find locally, too.
Q2: Do we ever get to meet each other?
A: That’s always an option; it's generally desirable, and sometimes it’s necessary. But equally or even far more important is the question, do we ever get to know each other? Physically meeting a client who reveals little of himself or herself is better than nothing, but it may not be enough. We've established superb relationships over the phone, sharing perspectives and opinions, that years later turned into true friendships.
Retaining a consultant necessarily creates a relationship of trust, of openness and frankness. It’s up to us to go first and so the material on this site deliberately reveals what you should know about us: Our experience and areas of competence; our ethics and values; our perspective and methodology. It you met us and didn’t find that out, how valuable would our getting together really be?
Sometimes, it makes more sense for us to get started over the telephone and then spend some time on your behalf before meeting face-to-face to discuss our findings and lists of issues that warrant further exploration, plan next steps, etc. At other times, the situation requires that we get together to meet key players, establish personal relationships, view premises and plans, etc. It’s largely a function of your situation, your preferences, your priorities, and your budget. In this economic environment, it’s prudent to evaluate trading travel time and airfare for more working time from afar.
Q3: How do either of us know in advance whether a (largely or completely) long distance relationship will work for us?
A: We don’t. To minimize the risk, however, especially where a client is unsure about a remote relationship, we try to create stages so that a client’s initial financial exposure is limited. That way, the client can gauge the probability of long-term success and benefit as we progress toward the client’s goals.